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Before Steve or Catherine could say anything, Serenity said, "I'm sorry, Catherine."

Catherine sat beside Serenity on the bed. "I'm sorry, too. I don't mean to act like a mom around you and your sister."

"I should appreciate that you do. I shouldn't have called you a bitch."

"And we'll watch our language in the future, won't we?" Steve asked sternly.

Serenity nodded.

Steve made his voice gentler the next time he spoke. "Do you want to stay with me instead of dealing with the nightmares?"

"It's okay. You guys probably wanna be alone."

Catherine shook her head. "Besides, there's something we have to tell you."

Serenity sat up. "What happened?"

"Nothing's wrong, Serenity, don't worry. Actually, Steve just proposed to me, and I accepted."

Catherine had expected Serenity to either be happy or upset, but all Serenity did was sit there with no expression on her face.

"Isn't that good, Serenity?" Steve asked.

Slowly, Serenity nodded. "Yeah, that's...that's great. Just...excuse me." She stood up and practically ran out of the room.

After sharing a glance with Steve, Catherine stood up. "I'll be right back."

Catherine stepped out into the hallway, looking in both directions. She spotted a source of light at the end of the hallway, just peeking out from underneath the door. Catherine walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Serenity? Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Catherine came in and closed the door behind her. "We need to talk, sweetie."

Serenity stood in front of the mirror, looking at her eyes that were filled with tears.

"There's nothing to talk about. And don't 'sweetie' me."

Catherine sighed. "Serenity, I know you don't like me. You don't have to lie and say you do. But I also know that you not liking my mothering when I'm not around a lot isn't the only reason you don't like me because if it were, you would be happy Steve and I were getting married. So I'm asking you to please tell me the whole reason. What did I do wrong, because I honestly want to know."

Serenity quickly wiped her eyes. "It's not worth talking about. It's stupid, really. If I tell you, you'll think it's dumb."

"I promise you I won't think it's dumb."

Serenity sighed. "It's a long story, so be prepared. I'm in seventh grade now, and girls are starting to have boyfriends. This year, it's like all the girls have changed. They all wear make-up and clothes that are too tight and revealing. The boys love that."

"I'll help you with whatever you need, but I don't understand how this relates to the problem," Catherine said.

"Well, you're pretty. No, it's beyond that-you're beautiful. Remember that night you, me, Steve, and Willow all went out to eat?"

Catherine nodded.

"That night, almost every male in that restaurant looked at you some point in the evening. It reminded me a lot of the situation at school, and how everyone's mean to me just because I don't dress like them or wear any make-up. I know it's a pathetic reason to not like you, but school is hell. Anything that reminds me of it I automatically can't stand."

Catherine didn't say anything for a while. "I'm sorry, Serenity. I had no idea-"

"No, you couldn't have had any idea. It's not your fault."

"Steve better go talk to the guidance counselor at your school soon. If not, than I will, and it won't be pretty."

Steve sat in Mrs. Lewis' office. She was the guidance counselor at Serenity's school. Even after only knowing her for just a minute, Steve was unsure about what guidance she actually gave.

"If there was a big problem going on here, Serenity would have come down to speak with me about it," Mrs. Lewis said with annoyance in her voice. "I know everything that goes on at this school, and bullying is not one of those things."

"Serenity isn't the kind of person who would make up something like that. I practically had to drag her out the door to go to school this morning," Steve explained.

Mrs. Lewis shrugged. "It's Monday morning. I'm sure most parents had to drag their children out the door."

Steve shook his head. "This is different. I can tell that she's going through hell at school."

"Fine, then. Let's call her down here."

Mrs. Lewis picked up the phone in her office and dialed an extension for one of the classrooms. "Mrs. Chen, could you send Serenity down to my office?"

She hung up after hearing Mrs. Chen's answer.

There was an awkward silence in the room as they waited for Serenity to get there. When she did, she took a seat next to Steve.

"What problems are you having, Serenity?" Mrs. Lewis asked.

"People are mean to me. They call me names and tease me."

"And you understand that these are just childhood games?"

"Excuse me?" Steve asked. "Are you making an excuse for them? Are you saying it's okay for them to treat Serenity this way?"

"I'm merely saying-"

"No, you're done saying things. I want something done about this."

"I'm merely telling you how we do things in this school."

"Then maybe I don't want Serenity to go to this school," Steve announced. "I don't want Willow going here, either. I'm taking them out of the school system right now."

A shocked-looking Mrs. Lewis was speechless. "Well, then...if that's what you wish."

"I don't have to go to school anymore?" Willow asked with her hopes high.

"Yes, you do, but you're going to a new school," Steve explained.

"Oh." Willow sighed, clearly disappointed that she had to still go to school.

It was Tuesday, the day after Steve had gone to talk to Mrs. Lewis. It was early in the morning. Steve had brought the girls to work with him. He didn't want to, but Mary hadn't come home the previous night, so he had no other options.

"Where are we gonna go?" Serenity questioned.

Steve sighed. "I'm not sure."

Serenity nodded.

Danny walked in a moment later. "No school today?"

"I took them out of school."

"What is it with you and dumb decisions?" Danny threw his hands up in the air. "I've only been here for five seconds and you're already doing stupid things!"

Steve shrugged. "It's not stupid. That guidance counselor wasn't going to do anything about Serenity being bullied and I took the girls out of school."

"So what are you going to do?" Danny asked.

Steve was about to say he didn't know yet when he had an idea. "Grace doesn't go to a public school in Honolulu, right?"

"No, she goes to a private school. Rachel does everything she can to show off money. Wait, you're not seriously considering sending them there, are you?"

Willow, Serenity, and Steve walked into the private school Grace attended. The secretary looked up and smiled. "Hi, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for enrollment information," Steve said.

The secretary nodded, whose nameplate read Mrs. C. Lee, stood up. "I'll be right back."

Willow stayed close to Steve's side. It was a big building and a new environment, and she didn't feel safe without him.

Serenity looked around at the office. On one wall, the school's logo was framed. It read 'Uhane Elementary School with silhouettes of children hand-in-hand pictured below it.

Mrs. Lee was back with a few other people. A man stepped forward and extended his hand to Steve. "Hello, I'm Mr. Wang, prinipal of 'Uhane Elementary School."

Steve shook his hand. "I'm Steve McGarrett."

"I understand you're here for enrollment information. Please, come with me."

Steve and the girls followed Mr. Wang into his office. The people who had came out with him followed them.

"Take a seat."

Serenity and Willow sat on either side of Steve, while the other people scattered around the table.

Mr. Wang began to speak. "Mr. McGarrett, this is Mrs. Martinez, head of the admissions department, and Mr. Sai, the school guidance counselor." He then looked at the girls with a smile. "And what are your names?"

"I'm Serenity," Serenity said as Willow proclaimed, "I'm Willow."

"Here's how we will do this. First, you'll talk to Mrs. Martinez, and if you decide on sending Serenity and Willow here, you'll then talk to Mr. Sai."

Mrs. Martinez, a kind woman in her fifties, convinced Steve that this was a good school for the girls.

Mr. Sai was a much better guidance counselor than Mrs. Lewis had been. He had been given the main ideas of the girls' story so he could understand what was wrong if one of them was to have a problem with their past lives.

And it was settled. On Wednesday, Willow and Serenity would start attending 'Uhane Elementary School. What was the problem? Oh, yeah-Wednesday. That was the next day.

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